Bethany Woodcock

After coming off an impressive indoor track season, the Lady Rangers are out to a blazing start for the spring. After declaring retirement two years ago, Rick Hebert is back as the head coach. He has returned with an ambitious plan to capture the Mid Wach League title. He is assisted by Matt Wilson, who led the girls to a league title indoors.

So far, the girls are undefeated, beating Leominster, Fitchburg, Groton Dunstable and Nashoba. In the District E relay meet this past Saturday, they placed an impressive third overall, falling to regional schools Wachusett and Algonquin, respectively.

Two school records were broken at the meet: the triple jump relay and the sprint medley relay (SMR). Sophomores Grace Desmond, Heidi Yap and junior Kristen Steudel jumped a combined distance of 96 feet, 4.75 inches. The old record was 93 feet. Doubling back in the SMR, Desmond and Yap were joined by freshman Molly Richards and senior Casey Welsh to break the record previously held at 1.57.64, and now stands at 1:56.8. The Distance Medley Relay consisting of Meg DiSaia, Kristen Steudel, Emily Desmond and Bethany Woodcock placed second to Wachusett, with a time of 13:30.

On Tuesday, the girls made the trip to Groton Dunstable and put up a great fight, racing past their opponents with a score of 74-71. Grace Desmond won four events: long jump (15-8.5), triple jump (32-5), 100 hurdles (16.3) and 400 hurdles (65.9). Helped by her sister, Emily Desmond won the mile (5:37) and the 800 meter races (2:27). Yap won the 100 meter (12.8) and 200 meter dash (27.1).

Grace Desmond commented, “Outdoor track has been very fun this season and I really like all of the girls on the team, Coach Wilson and Coach Hebert…. It was my goal to break 60 seconds and I did it in the 4×400 during indoor so I wanted to try and break it in the open 400 this spring.”

A quick turnaround for the girls appeared on Thursday, when they hosted rivals Nashoba. Last spring, the Chieftains were victorious in capturing the league title. However, this past indoor, the Rangers sailed past them, and beat them in both their dual meet and at leagues. The Rangers stepped up their game and won the meet by a margin of 81-64.

There were many outstanding performances that were noted. Grace Desmond broke yet another school record in the 400 open, clocking a time of 59.5. Emily Desmond won the mile and the 800, with times of 5:35 and 2:27 respectively. Steudel won the 400 Hurdles as well. This was a huge win for the Lady Rangers and puts them in a good position for the league meet, held on May 18th at Nashoba.

Regarding the league meet, Coach Hebert commented, “It’s a little bit hard to say as you don’t know what other teams have as well, but on the girls’ side, the league has always been very competitive with not a lot of point difference.”

The girls final race of the season is against Marlborough, on Tuesday, May 9. The District E meet is Saturday, May 13 at Lunenburg High School.